It's The Thought That Counts
by Raziel12
Summary: Lightning and Fang agree to help Vanille with her latest experiment. It goes about as well as could be expected, which is to say it doesn't go very well at all. On the upside, it might just bring Lightning and Fang closer together. A lot closer.


**It's The Thought That Counts**

In retrospect, Lightning should have known far better than to go along with yet another one of Vanille's ideas. She had more than enough experience to realise that the best thing to do would have been to draw her gun blade and shoot the redhead in advance. It would save her the trouble of having to do it later, and she might even catch the Dia by surprise. Vanille was surprisingly good at dodging when she knew trouble was headed her way.

However, Lightning, being the wonderfully kind, gentle, and generous person that she was, had agreed to help Vanille with her latest experiment. It was probably not a good thing that Serah had immediately questioned her sanity. The younger Farron and the Dia might be best friends – and if some of Vanille's drunken rambling was anything to go by, they might even be more than that – but when it came to experiments, Serah still didn't trust Vanille any farther than she could throw her.

And Serah wasn't very strong – Lightning doubted she could throw Vanille more than a few feet.

Then again, Fang had also agreed to help with Vanille's experiment. Surely that was a good sign. After all, Fang knew Vanille better than any of them. There was no way she'd agree to anything if she wasn't absolutely sure that it was safe and guaranteed to not go horribly wrong in a way that might bring about the premature end of the world.

Of course, Lightning hadn't counted on the fact that, much like her, Fang had a rather idealistic view of her younger sister. For instance, a normal person would have considered Vanille crazy. Fang preferred to use the term quirky. A normal person would also have considered Vanille a megalomaniac. Fang like to call her ambitious. A normal person would also have considered Vanille trouble-incarnate. Fang thought of her has as delightfully mischievous.

And a normal person would have gladly taken the closest heavy object and whacked Vanille over the head with it the moment she started rambling about telepathy. Fang smiled and made sure to get Vanille some strawberry ice cream with a cherry on top. She couldn't have her little sister go hungry while performing one of her experiments, now could she?

"So, what is this supposed to do?" Fang asked as Vanille attacked her ice cream with a gusto that left Lightning feeling strangely offended. The redhead had asked them to stand in a pair of glass booths that were connected to each other by a host of wires and crystals.

"Well…" Vanille licked her ice cream again. Lightning twitched. She was missing something here, she was sure of it. "You know how Lightning is always whinging…" Lightning glared. "Ahem, pointing out the difficulties of communicating on the battlefield and across large distances? The booths you are in are going to connect your minds, so that you can communicate with each other without having to worry about distance or equipment. It'll be perfect."

As much as it pained her to admit it, Lightning did think it sounded revolutionary. Equipment had to be carefully maintained, and it could always fail, particularly on the battlefield. Vanille claimed that this procedure would allow them to communicate instantly across even vast distances Lightning wasn't entirely sure how it worked. Knowing Vanille it worked using some bizarre mix of science, magic, and what Lightning had tentatively dubbed Vanille-power, a force that warped the laws of the universe and allowed the absolutely impossible to occur on a regular basis.

If it all worked out, Vanille promised that it would allow for the transmission of thoughts – first words and then images, sound, and perhaps even memories. But this first experiment was just a trial, a test run to see if they could get it to work at all.

"Just get on with it," Lightning said. "And know that if my brain melts and I die, I've asked Serah to kill you."

Vanille finished her ice cream and opened a can of soda. It was a miracle that all the sugar hadn't killed her yet. Then again, Vanille did have a lot of Vanille-power "Serah won't kill me. I'm her best friend. Besides, even if this goes wrong, your brain isn't going to melt."

Lightning and Fang shared a look. That was one less thing to worry about.

"It's more likely to, you know, explode – along with your skull."

Or not.

"Vanille…" Fang was getting worried now. This was beginning to remind her of the incident involving Vanille, some electronics, and a leek. Somehow the redhead had created killer machine-leeks. It had taken her and Lightning a solid two hours to get rid of them. The only good thing was that the machine-leeks had managed to rip Lightning's clothing in a few interesting places. "Please tell me that you're joking."

"Of course, I am. I wouldn't ask you to participate in anything that would make your brain and skull explode. You're my sister." Vanille smiled sunnily. "It'll be more of a violent sublimation."

"Vanille – "

"Relax, I'm kidding. It'll be fine." Vanille waved and flicked a switch. "Trust me."

Lightning had a feeling they'd be writing those words on her tombstone.

Years of careful research swung into play as Vanille's experiment hummed to life, powered by enough energy to light New Bodhum for a month. A blinding curtain of white filled Lightning's vision, and she had just enough time to wonder how long Vanille would be able to run before Serah finally managed to hunt down and kill her before she lost consciousness. Hopefully, her sister would be kind enough to make up a lie about how Lightning had died when she eventually had children. Perhaps she could tell them that their Aunt Lightning had died fighting off hordes of monsters – it was certainly more heroic than the truth: she'd died at the hands of a slightly deranged redhead with access to far too much research funding.

X X X

"Stop pointing that thing at me!"

Lightning groaned and tried to open her eyes, but it was much harder than it should have been. At least she was still alive. An image flashed through her mind – a younger Vanille running away from her, laughing, a makeshift binding rod slung over one shoulder – and her eyes finally opened.

She was still in the glass booth, but Serah had arrived while she was unconscious. Her sister had cornered Vanille on the other side of the lab, and she had her bow levelled squarely at the Dia's head. It was a heart-warming sight – almost enough to take Lightning's mind off her pounding headache.

"You melted my sister's brain!" Serah screamed. "She hasn't so much as twitched in the last five minutes! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you and call an ambulance."

"I'm your best friend. You can't kill me." Vanille's words said one thing, but her actions said another. She had a tight grip on a phonebook, and she fully prepared to either block the other woman's arrow with it or hit her over the head. Then she spotted Lightning. "Look! Look! Lightning is awake now. She'll be fine… unless I really did give her brain damage."

"Stay. Right. There. Do. Not. Move." Serah upped her Farron death glare to eleven and then ran over to the booth, opening it and dragging Lightning out. Dimly, Lightning was aware of Fang stirring as well, and Serah propped Lightning up in a chair before going back to help Fang.

_It feels like a herd of angry chocobos has been stampeding around in my head…_

Lightning twitched. She could have sworn that was Fang's voice in her head, but Fang's lips hadn't moved.

_I shouldn't have given Vanille all of my cake when we were kids. All that sugar must have driven her insane…_

Now, Lightning sat up. She definitely hadn't been thinking that, and Fang's lips definitely hadn't moved. Had Vanille's experiment actually worked? Could she really hear Fang's thoughts?

_Of course, Vanille's experiment didn't work. I think I'd know if I could hear someone else's thoughts…_

Next to Lightning, Fang's eyes widened. They turned and stared at each other, thoughts flying back and forth like so much static. In the background, they were both vaguely aware of Serah prying the phone book out of Vanille's hands and hitting her with it. Lightning felt a rush of approval. The phonebook was a good idea – it wouldn't leave any bruises.

_You're one scary person, you know that?_

"It worked." Lightning took a deep breath. "And we're not dead."

"Or maybe we are and this is what hell looks like?" Fang replied. _It wouldn't surprise me to find out that Vanille runs that place too._

"No, that wouldn't surprise me either." Lightning shook her head. Fang's mind felt warm, like a woolly sweater on a cold winter's day.

_Thanks. I'm glad you don't think I feel like a psychopath._

"Oh, be quiet." Lightning scowled.

Vanille finally managed to wrestle the phonebook away from Serah. With an agility that would have done Lightning proud, the redhead shoved Serah out of the way and bounded across the lab to Lightning and Fang.

"Hah! I knew it! I am totally a genius!" Vanille was smiling from ear to ear. Lightning wondered what it would be like to kill her although she couldn't be sure if that thought was hers or Fang's. "Now, how about we test exactly what you two can do?"

Over the course of the next hour, they established that Lighting and Fang could send their thoughts to each other. At the moment, they could only hear each other's thoughts, and even then only surface thoughts. Vanille was certain that was due to the amount of power she'd used in the experiment. With more power, they'd be able to delve into each other's minds and even send memories through the link.

"That's kind of creepy, don't you think?" Serah asked as Lightning and Fang looked at each other. Fang gave Lightning a smirk before the soldier replied with a vicious glare. Apparently, they were having another telepathic conversation – one that most likely mirrored their regular conversations. Namely, Fang would tease Lightning, and Lightning would scowl and glare, pretending all the while that she didn't really enjoy it – even thought she totally did.

"Yeah… you're right about that." Vanille made a face and glanced down at some of the data her instruments had recorded. Nothing seemed out of place, but her intuition was telling her that she'd missed something, possibly something important. It had to do with the power… "I might have to work on that. It makes them look like something out of a horror movie."

"So what now?" Lightning asked.

_Now, we find out if you really can go a whole day without thinking about killing me._

"Shut up." Lightning winced. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. _Shut up._

_Make me._

"Anyway," Vanille said. "Why don't the four of us head home?" Ever since Serah had moved in with Snow, Vanille and Fang had shared a house with Lightning. It was the ideal arrangement. Fang and Lightning got to have plenty of unresolved sexual tension, and Vanille got access to a well-stocked pantry and a comfortable house. The only thing missing was a swimming pool, and she was sure she could get Lightning to build one with just a little more badgering. "It should wear off by tomorrow morning, so don't worry."

"I guess this counts as a success then." Fang nodded at Lightning. _We're not dead, and our brains still work._

"I guess it does." Lightning sighed. _She'll want to do more experiments on this. I suppose I can get some of the new recruits to do it instead of us._

_Heh. I knew there was a reason I liked you so much. You're evil._

But, as Lightning was about to find out, not all was well.

X X X

Lightning would have been the first to admit that she had a tiny bit of an ego. Okay, that wasn't true. Serah was always going on about how she was too stubborn and arrogant to ever admit she was wrong. However, having a dream in which she had torrid – and, quite frankly, terrifyingly good – sex with herself was a bit odd even from her. On the upside, at least it hadn't been a dream involving Serah.

It was only later, as she was having a shower and trying to wipe the images and sounds out of her mind, that something occurred to her. What sort of person dreamed about having sex with themselves? A weird person, and not even she was that weird. There was another explanation, one that relied on the fact that her mind was hooked up to somebody else's. That somebody else had been dreaming about having sex with her, and she'd picked it up on it.

In other words, Fang had been dreaming of having sex with her, and that sex had involved a great deal of creativity and…

Her eyes widened and her breath caught, and she ended up spending much longer in the shower than was strictly necessary with the water as cold as she could get it. Fang had dreamed about having sex with her, and she had come up with quite a few ways to put Lightning's flexibility to very good use.

Lightning confronted Vanille about it the next morning in what she felt was commendably calm fashion.

"You!" Lightning jabbed one finger at Vanille and then leapt over the kitchen counter as the redhead tried to scurry away. She pinned the other woman against the fridge. "Fix this!"

"Fix what?" Vanille grabbed onto her hands, no doubt troubled by the fact that she was dangling a good two inches off the ground. Lightning loosened her grip a fraction. It wouldn't do for her to strangle Vanille – yet.

"I had dreams last night."

"So did I. I dreamed about a magical ice cream machine that never runs out –"

"I had someone else's dreams!"

"Oh." Vanille cackled as a blush spread across Lighting's cheeks. "Oh." She lowered her voice into a conspiratorial whisper. "Were they Fang's dreams? And just how many times did you two get it on in those dreams?"

Lightning was sorely tempted to shove Vanille's head in the freezer and then slam the freezer door on it. "I am not answering that. I want you to fix it. Now. And Fang and I are friends. Just friends." Although she would have been lying if she said she hadn't considered Fang in a romantic light before. But she hadn't done anything about those thoughts yet. What if things didn't work out and she lost her best friend?

But the dream was already weakening her resolve. Fang had to like her at least a little bit. People who were just friends didn't dream about having sex with each other, did they? Did Serah and Vanille? Wait, bad example. Those two probably had the world's second most complicated relationship, right behind Dajh and his pet chocobo who still hadn't worked out if they were more like siblings or best friends.

Naturally, Fang chose that exact moment to walk past the fridge in a tank top that drew Lightning's attention to places that no friend should enjoy looking at so much. Stupid Fang had to be so stupidly sexy.

"Uh, not that I necessarily mind, but why are you threatening my sister?"

"Hey!" Vanille squirmed. "You're supposed to stick up for me!"

"Which is why I'm prying Lightning's hands off your neck." Fang pried off the aforementioned hands but maintained a firm grip on the collar of Vanille's shirt.

"If you must know, Lightning was telling me about – mph!" Vanille scowled as Lightning covered her mouth with one hand.

"It was about the experiment." Lightning gave Vanille a meaningful – and terrifying – look. Spill the beans and die. "Are you still connected?"

Fang frowned faintly. "Actually, I am. I thought it would have worn off already, but I can still feel you up here." She tapped her temple. "You're pissed about something. Did Vanille eat all the strawberry ice cream again?"

"No. That's not it." Lightning winced as another image from the dream flashed through her mind. "It's… Fang?"

The strangest look had come over Fang's face. She was blushing – Oerba Yun Fang was actually blushing. And then she grabbed Vanille and pulled her into a headlock.

"You said it wouldn't do that! You said it would be surface thoughts only!"

"What are you talking about?" Vanille managed to slither out of Fang's grasp. "Why is everyone trying to kill me even more than usual?"

_Because Lightning saw my dream. That's why._

Lightning gaped. That was definitely Fang's voice, and she was certain Fang hadn't been trying to send her that thought. Another image filled her mind – it was Fang's dream, but with all of Lightning's emotions and thoughts attached to it. Fang knew that she knew, and she had read all of Lightning's thoughts about the dream too. And that included Lightning's turmoil in the shower –

And now Lightning and Fang were both trying to strangle the house's resident genius.

"If you kill me, I can't fix anything!" Vanille wailed, finally putting an end to all of the attempted murder. Still, she kept a solid grip on the frying pan she'd managed to grab. She couldn't take either Fang or Lightning in a fair fight, but they were unarmed while she had a big piece of metal. "Now, can someone please explain everything in full detail, so that I can at least try to fix it." Twin death glares burned into her. "Okay, I mean fix it as soon as possible."

So Lightning explained, looking everywhere except at Fang. And then Fang added her two cents, looking everywhere except at Lightning. And by the time they were done, they were both as red as tomatoes. If only her life hadn't been on the line, Vanille would have considered it the funniest thing ever.

"Well," Vanille said when they were finished. "That's not exactly what I thought would happen." She ducked as Lightning lobbed a spoon at her head. "It seems like the connection is getting deeper. You're getting full sensory data, and you don't even have to try to send the thoughts over. This could definitely be troublesome."

Yes, Lightning thought, it could be. Especially if Fang knew how much she liked the way that the huntress walked around the house half naked – and now Fang was staring at her with wide eyes.

_Lightning looks good enough to eat in those short…_

Lightning swallowed thickly and tried not to squirm in her shorts. Did Fang really like them that much?

_Yes, so much yes._

Crap. Lightning took a deep breath. This was already getting out of control.

"Right." Vanille slammed one hand down on the counter. "Give me five days, and I'll have this fixed. That's a promise." She struck a heroic pose that Lightning was certain she'd stolen from Snow. "Or my name isn't Oerba Dia Vanille!"

Five days. Lightning shook her head. Five days with Fang prancing around looking so damn tempting and…

_We're screwed. _

Lightning nodded. They were so screwed.

X X X

Lightning was right. They were screwed – as in really screwed. And not just in their dreams although they were plenty screwed in those too.

Lightning had never been more aware of just how much of her thinking revolved around Fang. She thought about everything Fang said and did. Even something as mundane as going to the corner store for some milk turned into an exercise in thinking about Fang when she spotted some of the other woman's favourite cereal on special.

And now, thanks to Vanille's little experiment, she knew that Fang thought about her all the time too. It wasn't only about how Lightning looked. So much of it was in the little things, like how Lightning preferred to eat her toast after her cereal but before her coffee, or how Lightning always took off her right shoe first.

And then there were the dreams. Maker help her, there were the dreams.

Lightning had never known that someone could have so many dreams in one night. She wasn't going to lie. Quite a few of them involved her and Fang in somewhat intimate situations – some of which she wasn't even sure were anatomically possible although there was a part of her that wanted nothing more than to find out. But a lot of them were simpler: her and Fang going shopping, her and Fang spending a lazy afternoon on the porch, and even her and Fang walking down the aisle.

The worst – and best part – was that Lightning wasn't even sure which dreams were Fang's and which ones were hers anymore. They all rolled together.

It made her wonder why they didn't just…

_Get together?_

Lightning didn't bother to turn around as Fang entered Vanille's lab. Nor did she bother to open her mouth to reply. She didn't have to. Fang's mind was a warm presence against hers. But what if they did get together and it fell apart? What would they have then? It would ruin everything.

_It won't fall apart. I love you too much for that._

Fang had always had a way with words – but there was nothing tricky or cunning about her thoughts. They were like shafts of sunlight piercing the night. There was no way that Fang could lie to her now – no way that she could hide anything.

"Okay." Vanille shoved Lightning back into one of the booths and hustled Fang into the other one. "I've got everything worked out. All I have to do is flick this switch and –"

"Wait!" Lightning shook her head. "Look, can you give us a few minutes?"

"Seriously?" Vanille frowned. "I haven't slept in three days, Lightning. You told me to get this finished as soon as possible or you would kill me. Slowly. And now you want to –"

"Just wait!"

Vanille sighed. "Fine. Let me know when you're ready. I'll go check that you've signed the disclaimer forms. I don't want anyone coming after me if this goes wrong."

Lightning closed her eyes and reached out for Fang's mind through the link between them. They had spent the past several days trying to build walls to keep each other out. Now, Fang let her in. Lightning saw everything, and she had never felt so humbled. Fang loved her, completely and without reservation. It didn't matter that she was cranky most of the time, or that she might have the emotional intelligence of a brick, Fang loved her.

She smiled softly and let Fang into her mind too.

"Okay," Lightning said. "Flick the switch."

Vanille flicked the switch. And everything went back to normal – sort of.

X X X

Once upon a time, Lightning had dreamed of a fairy tale romance. Her significant other would sweep her off her feet, wine her, and dine her. They'd spend hours each day curled up by the fire exchanging romantic endearments. She'd been a child when she'd had those dreams, but she was a woman now, and reality was very different.

She'd been in Fang's head, and Fang had been in hers. All their cards were on the table. And it wasn't all that long before all their clothes were on the floor. They were already so much closer than friends should be, so this was only one more step to take, and they'd already wasted so much time already.

And Lightning did get to live her fairy tale romance, in a manner of speaking. After all, Fang had swept her off her feet more than once, dragging her out of harm's way. And the two of them had definitely shared dinner and wine on more than one occasion. They'd curled up by the fire too, albeit after a long, hard hunt, and they'd exchanged friendly jibes rather than endearments.

It wasn't a conventional courtship by any means, but they weren't conventional women either. It worked for them, and that was enough. Love was love, even if sometimes it took a bit of insanity and mischief to get it going.

Lightning had Fang, and Fang had Lightning.

X X X

"Did it work?" Serah asked.

Vanille lifted her cup of coffee to her lips. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she could barely keep her head from hitting the table. "Trust me, it worked. I haven't been able to sleep in a week because of those two."

"You can crash on my couch," Serah said. "Snow won't mind." She giggled. "Who'd have thought that all we needed was to link their minds together? We should have tried that years ago."

"That's easy for you to say. They almost killed me when they found out they could see each other's dreams." Vanille jabbed her fork at Serah. "Remember, you owe me all the cake I can eat for the next year."

"Yeah, yeah." Serah rolled her eyes. "So, what are you going to do with that machine you built?"

"Meh. It'll take me a few days, but I should have it configured for proper use. That means people should only be able to send thoughts out with a bit of effort and if they're wearing the amplifiers I designed. In other words, we shouldn't have any more mishaps with dreams and stuff." She shrugged. "I'm also working on an animal version. I'm kind of curious to know what pets think about us."

X X X

**Author's Notes**

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

A belated Happy Halloween, everyone! I was planning on posting this yesterday, but I didn't have time to get the final draft done until this evening. Oops. In any case, this is just a bit of light-hearted Halloween fun. There's nothing quite like a crazy experiment or two (the mad scientist thing is so Halloween), which is why I've chosen to go with zaniness in this story.

My other Halloween story (Love Waits for RWBY) was a bit more serious, so I wanted something lighter for FF XIII. I also wanted something Lightning/Fang flavoured, and this story is the end result. Lightning and Fang are both a bit stubborn, so it might take something as crazy as being able to read each other's thoughts to get them going. Naturally, however, it's Vanille's fault – and Serah is plotting behind the scenes too.

In any case, this was a blast to write, and I hope you enjoyed it too. Happy Halloween.

I also write original fiction, mostly fantasy. You can find links to it in my profile. If you're looking for something fun to read for Halloween season try _Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf_, or, if you want something more serious, try _The Last Huntress._

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


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